---
slug: 17-upscaling-refinement
role: index
date: 2026-04-21
---

> **📅 Research snapshot as of 2026-04-21.** Provider pricing, free-tier availability, and model capabilities drift every quarter. The router reads `data/routing-table.json` and `data/model-registry.json` at runtime — treat those as source of truth. If this document disagrees with the registry, the registry wins.

# Category 17 — Upscaling Refinement

Route upscaler by asset type, not by image. DAT2 fine-tunes are the 2026 generalist default; never diffusion-refine a flat logo; upscale last.

## Angles

| File | Topic |
|---|---|
| [`17a-esrgan-swinir-hat-family.md`](./17a-esrgan-swinir-hat-family.md) | Classic & SOTA Upscalers — ESRGAN / SwinIR / HAT family, APISR, chaiNNer, Ultimate-SD-Upscale |
| [`17b-supir-ccsr-diffbir-refinement.md`](./17b-supir-ccsr-diffbir-refinement.md) | Diffusion-based refinement & upscale: SUPIR, CCSR, DiffBIR, StableSR, SeeSR, SDXL-refiner, Magnific, Topaz |
| [`17c-face-text-hand-targeted-refinement.md`](./17c-face-text-hand-targeted-refinement.md) | Targeted Refinement: Face, Text, and Hand Fixers for Generated Assets |
| [`17d-logo-icon-sharpness-refinement.md`](./17d-logo-icon-sharpness-refinement.md) | Logo / Icon Specific Refinement — Sharp Edges, Crisp Geometry, Snap-to-Grid |
| [`17e-deployment-patterns-upscaling.md`](./17e-deployment-patterns-upscaling.md) | Deploying upscalers & refiners in production: ONNX/CoreML/TensorRT, WebGPU, serverless GPU, and hybrid patterns |

## Also in this folder

- [`SYNTHESIS.md`](./SYNTHESIS.md) — synthesized insights across angles

## Up one level

- [`../index.md`](../index.md) — master research index
- [`../SYNTHESIS.md`](../SYNTHESIS.md) — master synthesis
